COSMETOLOGY SCHOOLS IN OHIO — Federal Data, September 2026
Cosmetology Schools in Ohio, Ranked On What Graduates Owe And Earn
27 accredited institutions in Ohio report enough federal data on this program to be compared. They are ranked here on a single measure: how many months of gross pay it takes a graduate to cover the median debt.
See The RankingU.S. Department of Education data. No school paid to be listed.
Across the 27 ranked programs in Ohio, the median graduate needs 8.6 months of gross pay to cover a median federal debt of $12,000, against median earnings of $19,778 one year after completion.
That is slower than the national median of 6.8 months for this field, measured across the 987 institutions in our national cosmetology schools ranking. The best performer in the state is The Spa School in Columbus, at 5.0 months.
Every figure on this page is recalculated on Ohio institutions only. Nothing is carried over from the national page.
At A Glance
What the federal data says about cosmetology schools in Ohio
The Ranking
27 cosmetology schools in Ohio, ranked by months of gross pay to cover the debt
Lower is better.
| # | School | Type | Award | Months | Debt | Earnings | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Spa SchoolColumbus, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 5.0 | $8,499 | $20,256 | 70% |
| 2 | Aveda Fredric’s Institute-CincinnatiWest Chester, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 5.3 | $9,833 | $22,160 | 80% |
| 3 | Aveda Institute-ColumbusColumbus, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 5.6 | $9,833 | $21,089 | 74% |
| 4 | Ohio State School of Cosmetology-Canal WinchesterCANAL WINCHESTER, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 5.9 | $11,166 | $22,637 | 61% |
| 5 | Summit Salon Academy-PerrysburgPerrysburg, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 6.1 | $11,140 | $21,819 | 85% |
| 6 | Brown Aveda Institute-MentorMentor, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 6.3 | $10,899 | $20,873 | 86% |
| 7 | Brown Aveda Institute-StrongsvilleStrongsville, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 6.3 | $10,899 | $20,873 | 85% |
| 8 | Salon Institute-Toledo CampusToledo, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 6.4 | $12,000 | $22,672 | 61% |
| 9 | Paul Mitchell the School-ColumbusColumbus, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 7.0 | $13,833 | $23,788 | 81% |
| 10 | Ohio State Beauty AcademyLima, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 7.1 | $10,000 | $16,819 | 57% |
| 11 | Moler-Pickens Beauty AcademyFairfield, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 7.3 | $13,216 | $21,650 | 96% |
| 12 | Paul Mitchell the School-ClevelandTwinsburg, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 7.6 | $12,535 | $19,778 | 62% |
| 13 | Casal Aveda InstituteNiles, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 8.2 | $10,667 | $15,698 | 62% |
| 14 | Raphael’s School of Beauty Culture Inc-NilesNiles, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 8.6 | $11,000 | $15,266 | 58% |
| 15 | Raphael’s School of Beauty Culture Inc-BrunswickBrunswick, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 8.6 | $11,000 | $15,266 | 66% |
| 16 | Raphael’s School of Beauty Culture Inc-AllianceAlliance, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 9.0 | $10,250 | $13,623 | 66% |
| 17 | Creative Images Institute of Cosmetology-North DaytonDayton, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 9.0 | $12,664 | $16,806 | 74% |
| 18 | Creative Images Institute of Cosmetology-South DaytonDayton, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 9.0 | $12,664 | $16,806 | 78% |
| 19 | Raphael’s School of Beauty Culture Inc-BoardmanBoardman, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 9.3 | $9,590 | $12,380 | 58% |
| 20 | Ohio State School of Cosmetology-HeathHeath, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 9.5 | $12,000 | $15,189 | 84% |
| 21 | Paul Mitchell the School-CincinnatiCincinnati, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 9.9 | $16,500 | $20,058 | 79% |
| 22 | Paul Mitchell the School-ToledoSylvania, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 9.9 | $16,500 | $20,058 | 46% |
| 23 | Elite School of CosmetologyNorwalk, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 10.1 | $12,888 | $15,241 | 65% |
| 24 | National Beauty CollegeCanton, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 10.6 | $14,750 | $16,763 | n/a |
| 25 | Moler Hollywood Beauty AcademyCincinnati, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 12.0 | $20,197 | $20,222 | 71% |
| 26 | Empire Beauty School-CincinnatiCincinnati, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 12.8 | $16,500 | $15,480 | 44% |
| 27 | LaBarberia Institute of HairMayfield Hts, OH | for-profit | Certificate | 20.8 | $20,000 | $11,561 | 63% |
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most Recent Cohorts by Field of Study and by Institution (published 9 June 2026). Debt is the median federal Stafford and Grad PLUS loan debt of completers in this program; earnings are median earnings one year after completion. Where a school offers the program at both certificate and associate level, the shorter payback is shown. Completion is the institution’s published rate, not the program’s.
The Top Five, In Detail
The five fastest payback programs in Ohio, one by one
The Spa School
Columbus, OH
The Spa School is a private for-profit institution in Columbus. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $8,499 and report median earnings of $20,256 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 5.0 months of gross pay: the fastest payback in the state, and 3.6 months faster than the Ohio state median of 8.6. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 70% completion rate.
Aveda Fredric’s Institute-Cincinnati
West Chester, OH
Aveda Fredric’s Institute-Cincinnati is a private for-profit institution in West Chester. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,833 and report median earnings of $22,160 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 5.3 months of gross pay: the second fastest in the state, and 3.3 months faster than the Ohio state median of 8.6. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 80% completion rate.
Aveda Institute-Columbus
Columbus, OH
Aveda Institute-Columbus is a private for-profit institution in Columbus. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $9,833 and report median earnings of $21,089 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 5.6 months of gross pay: the third fastest in the state, and 3.0 months faster than the Ohio state median of 8.6. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 74% completion rate.
Ohio State School of Cosmetology-Canal Winchester
CANAL WINCHESTER, OH
Ohio State School of Cosmetology-Canal Winchester is a private for-profit institution in CANAL WINCHESTER. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $11,166 and report median earnings of $22,637 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 5.9 months of gross pay: fourth in the state, and 2.7 months faster than the Ohio state median of 8.6. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 61% completion rate.
Summit Salon Academy-Perrysburg
Perrysburg, OH
Summit Salon Academy-Perrysburg is a private for-profit institution in Perrysburg. Its cosmetology graduates leave with a median federal debt of $11,140 and report median earnings of $21,819 a year after completing, so the debt is covered by 6.1 months of gross pay: fifth in the state, and 2.5 months faster than the Ohio state median of 8.6. The award measured here is a certificate. The institution reports a 85% completion rate.
Read It Carefully
What this ranking does not measure
Absence from this page is not a verdict. The Department of Education suppresses figures for programs with small cohorts, so a small, excellent school will often have no publishable data at all. Schools that enroll no students on federal aid are outside this dataset entirely.
The measure is a ratio, not a repayment plan, and it counts federal loan debt only. Cash payments, private loans and employer sponsorship are invisible here. Local wages shape earnings as much as the school does, which is exactly why comparing inside one state, as this page does, is more informative than comparing across the country.
Other States
The same program, another state
Other Programs in Ohio
Comparing a different trade in Ohio
For OHIO School Operators
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